MUMBAI: The state cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 323 crore proposal to install an additional 5625 cameras for Mumbai. This will take the total number of CCTV cameras watching over Mumbai to 10,342. There is already an existing network of 4717 cameras in the city, which are functioning at a 96% optimal level. The additional cameras will cover sensitive areas and roads with street and traffic crimes and offences against women. "The additional cameras will be installed in areas where the existing network is falling short. Many internal roads are not covered, all those loopholes will be covered now," said a senior official. The Rs 980 crore Mumbai CCTV surveillance project was floated after the 26/11 terror attacks and was being executed by L&T and went live in September 2017. "The cost of this project is less because only additional cameras have to be installed, the installation network is all ready. And there is a clause in the existing contract with L&T that in case the project needs to be expanded they will execute the project,' said the official. Officials have also said that the CCTV network in Mumbai has helped them tremendous in crime detection and also bringing traffic disciple. So far more than 8 lakh e-challans have been issued to motorists for violating traffic rules, said the official.

Officials said that work to connect the mobile command vans to a satellite network and also some of the extra components of key feature of the CCTV network called the picture intelligence unit(PIU) was going on. Under the PIU feature the state government can store pictures of suspicious persons in their system and it will flash when the face comes up on the CCTV.